"We were here for the national championship, so we got to see it at its glory, at its peak, but I didn't really realize how much of a tradition rolling Toomer's was and the whole history of it, and now seeing everybody gathered here in a somber tone is kind of enlightening and eyeopening."

Poisoned by a rival fan in 2010, all but the iconic oaks roots will be removed today. University officials said the process would take two to four hours.

Crews barricaded the intersection of College Street and Magnolia Avenue at 6:20 a.m.

The public has been granted access to watch the cutting from across the street.

"We know that there will be interest in this, so we are trying to make it as easy as possible for the public to view," said university spokesman Mike Clardy.

The university unveiled Saturday its plan to redevelop the corner and replace the massive, old-growth oaks that Auburn fans traditionally festoon with toilet paper whenever there is cause for celebration.

With input from more than 10,000 fans taken into account, the design retains the basic configuration of the 1917 gateway to the university, adding seating and tree-lined path into Samford Park.

University officials expect to start work on the project and plant replacement oaks in early 2014. They expect to complete the construction project before the start of the 2014 football season.

Assistant Vice President for Facilities Dan King said preliminary
estimates show the project will cost a total of $1.2 million to $2
million.

However, the replacement oaks will "need several years to become established," Clardy said.

University President Jay Gogue said this month the rolling tradition will continue, but the university may have to make "other arrangements" until the new trees are fully established.

"We certainly will try do everything we can to continue that tradition of rolling," he said.

Gary Keever, professor of horticulture at Auburn, said the university has not yet decided what type of oaks to plant at the corner, but they could be as 35 feet tall.

The city and the university plan to erect a temporary structure composed of wires above the intersection to allow the rolling tradition to continue for the 2013 football season.

The university has contracted Asplundh Tree Expert Co to remove the trees, Clardy said. The Pennsylvania-based company has a regional office in Alabaster.

Once removed lumber from the trees will be carved into keepsakes that Auburn fans can purchase as mementos. Revenue from the keepsakes will go to support a new scholarship fund at the school.

University officials have not yet revealed the what type of keepsakes will be available, but they say the wide-spectrum herbicide, tebuthiuron, which Updyke used to poison the trees will not make the keepsakes toxic.

"The experts at Dow AgriSciences are confident any tebuthiuron in the
mementos poses no threat to the health of humans and other mammals,"
said Keever. "The herbicide is not
carcinogenic, doesn't cause birth defects or mutations, dermal toxicity
is low, and the amount that may be in the wood is infinitesimally
small."

However, it is not clear how much soil will have to be removed at the corner to make it safe for the new trees. Keever said they will bore into the soil to map the contamination vertically and horizontally.

"That's probably the biggest unknown, the levels and location of the herbicide," he said.

The trees' removal comes two years after Harvey Updyke Jr. admitted he had poisoned the trees following Auburn's victory over the University of Alabama in 2010 Iron Bowl.

Updyke was sentenced to three years for criminal damage to an agricultural facility. Under the deal, he must serve six months in jail and will be on supervised probation for five years after his release.